The discovery was disclosed by Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba to media after the launch of the warship Mormugao, a guided-missile destroyer on Saturday.

In a blow to the Indian Navy, over 22,000 pages of confidential data on the capabilities of six highly advanced Scorpene submarines, being built for the Indian Navy in Mumbai in collaboration with DCNS, were recently leaked. (Reuters)

In the preliminary investigation conducted in the Scorpene data leak, it has been found that the leak did not take place in India but at the office of defence company DCNS in France. The discovery was disclosed by Navy chief Admiral Sunil Lanba to media after the launch of the warship Mormugao, a guided-missile destroyer on Saturday.

“There is a high-level committee which is inquiring into the Scorpene leak on our side. Similarly in France, DCNS and the French government have launched an inquiry. Based on this inquiry, we will see what needs to be done and whether any mitigation measures are required or not,” Lanba said.

In a blow to the Indian Navy, over 22,000 pages of confidential data on the capabilities of six highly advanced Scorpene submarines, being built for the Indian Navy in Mumbai in collaboration with DCNS, were recently leaked. The combat capability of the Scorpene submarines, being built at Mazagon Dock in Mumbai at a cost of $3.5 billion, became public when The Australian newspaper put the details on its website. Some of the leaked documents relate to information about operating instructions of underwater warfare system of the submarines, which are used to gather intelligence.

However, Lanba said that the Scorpene data leak controversy won’t affect the project of building submarines in the Indian dockyards with the help of foreign shipyards.

Admiral Lanba’s wife Reena launched the bedecked ship at a function at MDL at 11.58 am after which it was released into the Arabian Sea for the first time. The vessel will undergo certain tests required by the Indian Navy and would be subsequently known as INS Mormugao.

Mormugao has a displacement of 7,300 tonne with maximum speed of over 30 knots. The warship is equipped with surface-to-surface missiles, surface-to-air missiles and anti-submarine rocket launchers. It is also capable of carrying two anti-submarine warfare helicopters. According to Lanba, the indigenous content of the Mormugao is 68 per cent. “The major weapon sensor is now also on a joint development between DRDO and IAI of Israel,” the Navy chief said.